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BMW S 1000 RR rider Torres fights for victory in the Superbike World Championship – Five wins and ten podiums for the BMW racers in Italy, Great Britain and France.

Mon Jun 19 14:59:00 CEST 2017 Press Release

A BMW S 1000 RR racer caused a stir in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship at the weekend: Jordi Torres (ESP) of the privateer BMW Althea Racing Team fought for victory in Sunday’s race at Misano (ITA), keeping the riders of the established and strong factory teams behind him. The Spaniard was on course for a fantastic podium finish but unfortunately was stopped through no fault of his own by a tyre issue in the closing stages of the race.

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Munich. A BMW S 1000 RR racer caused a stir in the MOTUL FIM
Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) at the weekend: Jordi Torres
(ESP) of the privateer BMW Althea Racing Team fought for victory in
Sunday’s race at Misano (ITA), keeping the riders of the established
and strong factory teams behind him. The Spaniard was on course for
a fantastic podium finish but unfortunately was stopped through no
fault of his own by a tyre issue in the closing stages of the race.
His Althea BMW Racing Team team-mate Marco Faccani (ITA) was able to
celebrate, winning the Misano race of the FIM Superstock 1000
European Championship (STK1000). In the French Superbike
Championship (FSBK), Kenny Foray (FRA) was the man to beat at Pau
(FRA) and claimed another fantastic double win on his Tecmas Racing
Team BMW S 1000 RR. Florian Brunet-Lugardon (FRA) won both races of
the French European Bikes Championship (FR EU) at Pau. In Scotland's
Knockhill, Michael Rutter (GBR) and Chrissy Rouse (GBR) stepped onto
the podium of the BSB Superstock class (BSB STK).

MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship in Misano, Italy.

The seventh meeting of the 2017 MOTUL FIM Superbike World
Championship (WorldSBK) marked another home round for the Althea BMW
Racing Team. It was held in Misano on the Italian Adriatic coast. In
an eventful first race on Saturday, BMW S 1000 RR rider Jordi Torres
(ESP) equalled his best results of the season, crossing the line in
fourth. His team-mate Raffaele de Rosa (ITA) was tenth.

His fourth place finish from race one earned Torres pole position for
the second race on Sunday, according to the reversed grid regulations
of the WorldSBK. The Spaniard put in a fantastic performance, fighting
for the victory and leading the race for eight laps, until he was
passed by the eventual winner Marco Melandri (ITA). Torres then held
firm in second place and was on course for his first podium finish
with the BMW S 1000 RR. But lady luck was not on his side and, with
four laps to go, a tyre issue ended his great race prematurely. De
Rosa crossed the line in seventh, claiming his best result of the
season so far.

Jordi Torres: “We were convinced we could do well in
Sunday’s race. I started strong, making the most of being on pole.
Having no-one up ahead helped, I could take my lines, get into a
rhythm. I ran my race, pushing to the limit, giving 100% all the way.
I ran with Melandri for several laps and continued to push, but then
four laps from the end I felt some vibration and the rear was sliding
around. I realised it was the same issue we had at Assen in race 1. I
want to thank my Althea guys, who came up with a significant chassis
solution that we’d never tried before, that allowed me to find the
right level of confidence and fully express myself. I’m so sorry I was
unable to finish the race, but we have to take this performance and
carry it to Laguna…”

Raffaele De Rosa: “Sunday went better than Saturday
but it’s a pity we couldn’t have reached the top ten in the first race
to start a little further forward in race two, with the reverse grid.
Anyway, I’m quite pleased because slowly, step by step, we are
managing to improve. Now we’ll take this result and try to build on it
race by race.”

FIM Superstock 1000 European Championship in Misano, Italy.

Marco Faccani (ITA) secured the first win of the season for the BMW S
1000 RR in the FIM Superstock 1000 European Championship (STK1000) in
Misano (ITA). After an eventful race, that was red flagged and
re-started for five laps, the Althea BMW Racing Team rider celebrated
on the top step of the podium. In the first part of the race, Federico
Sandi (ITA) of Berclaz Racing Team was fighting for the win, but then
he and Eric Vionnet (SUI) crashed due to oil on the track. After that,
the race was red-flagged. Sandi was able to take to the track at the
re-start and headed the field, but had to retire due to technical
problems. Vionnet could not re-start.

Marco Faccani: “What a race! I’m so happy for the
team, for me, everyone! It was very tough in the first part of the
race, with a really fast pace to keep. I held on and then pushed to
the max again in the second heat. What can I say, I’m very happy, we
needed this. I want to thank everyone for their support, the team, the
sponsors, we did a great job here and I hope we can continue like this.”

Federico Sandi: “Unfortunately there were no flags
warning of the oil in turn 4. When I returned to the pit lane after
the crash my mechanics did a very good job and we made it back to the
grid. After the re-start, I took the lead for four laps, but in the
closing stages of the race my bike stopped. I am very disappointed
because we started the weekend being the fastest out there, and also
in the warm-up I was very fast. Now we focus on the next race and hope
that we will have lady luck on our side, because we work very hard and
victory in Misano was possible.”

British Superbike Championship in Knockhill, Great Britain.

The fourth round of the 2017 British Superbike Championship (BSB) was
held at Knockhill (GBR) in Scotland at the weekend. The highest placed
BMW rider in the Superbike class (BSB SBK) was Peter Hickman (GBR) on
his Smiths Racing BMW S 1000 RR. He finished the races in sixth and
ninth respectively. His team-mate Lee Jackson (GBR) was ninth in race
one and 13th in race two. The Tyco BMW team experienced a
difficult weekend in the Superbike class. Christian Iddon (GBR)
crashed in free practice on Friday and was not able to continue the
weekend due to a deep flesh wound on his left arm.

Peter Hickman: “It’s been a bit of a tough weekend to
be honest and, having been strong all weekend, it all went a bit awry
in qualifying when the oil that had been laid on the track messed my
head up. I just couldn’t ride the way I wanted and that made both
races difficult, as being so far back on the grid at a short circuit
like Knockhill is near impossible to come back from. It’s not easy to
overtake, but I kept chipping away and while sixth and ninth isn’t
where I want to be finishing, I’m only four points adrift of the top
six so we’ll keep fighting hard and look to come out fighting next
time out.”

The Superstock class (BSB SBK) saw two podium finishes for the BMW
riders. In race one on Saturday, Michael Rutter (GBR / Bathams SMT
Racing) was second. Josh Elliott (GBR) who returned to Tyco BMW and
replaced injured Ian Hutchinson (GBR) secured a strong fifth place
finish at his comeback in the class. Chrissy Rouse (GBR / Mission
Racing) unfortunately crashed when lying in second. In race two on
Sunday, it was Rouse’s turn to step onto the podium. This time, he
crossed the line in second. Rutter was fifth on this occasion.

French Superbike Championship in Pau, France.

Pau in the South of France hosted the fourth round of the 2017 French
Superbike Championship (FSBK) – and the weekend brought another double
win for BMW racer Kenny Foray (FRA). The Tecmas BMW Racing team rider
did brilliant manoeuvres at the very front and won both the races on
Sunday morning and afternoon. In total, he claimed five wins in a row
in the seven races contested so far this season. In the overall
standings, Foray extended his lead now to an advantage of 52 points
over his closest rival. His team-mate Maxime Bonnot (FRA) finished the
races in 16th and ninth respectively (sixth and second in
the FSBK Challenger class).

Kenny Foray: “I’m very happy because it was an ideal
weekend for me, as I had dreamed. I’m also very happy because I set a
new track record. This proves that the package rider/bike/team/tires
is very efficient. The races were not easy because it is very
difficult to overtake in Pau, but I had a good rythm in this very hot
conditions. Regarding the championship: last year, we could not really
make use of our chances because of small things turning against us.
This time, everything smiles at us, contrary to our opponents. But
it’s not about taking the easy way, we have to stay focused.“

French European Bikes Championship in Pau, France.

The races of the French European Bikes Championship (FR EU) in Pau
(FRA) were also dominated by the BMW S 1000 RR riders. In the first
heat on Saturday, they claimed a top-three lockout. Florian
Brunet-Lugardon (FRA / Gers Moto Vitesse Ordannaise) took the win,
followed by his brother and team-mate Cyril Brunet-Lugardon (FRA) in
second. Fabien Gabrielian (FRA / FG Racing) completed the podium in
third. In race two, the Brunet-Lugardon brothers secured another
one-two result, with Florian winning again and Cyril in second. In the
overall standings, Cyril continues to be in the lead while Florian
improved to second place.

Florian Brunet-Lugardon: “On Saturday, I started from
pole position and Cyril from second place. It was a very long and hard
race with hot track temperatures over 50 degrees Celsius. I managed to
stay in front of Cyril and take the win. In Sunday’s race, Cyril
started from second and me from third. Soon a group of three riders
battled at the front, pulling away from the rest of the field. Halfway
through the race Cyril was lying in second and I was in third. We then
started to attack the leader and were successful – securing another
one-two result. It was a great weekend and the results were very
important for the championship.”

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CO2 emission information.

Fuel consumption figures based on the EU test cycle, may vary depending on the tyre format specified.

Further information on official fuel consumption figures, specific CO2 emission values and the electric power consumption of new passenger cars is included in the guideline "Guideline for fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and electric power consumption of new passenger cars", which can be obtained from all dealerships, from Deutsche Automobil Treuhand GmbH (DAT), Hellmuth-Hirth-Str. 1, 73760 Ostfildern-Scharnhausen and at http://www.dat.de.

Related Video Content.

Fuel consumption figures based on the EU test cycle, may vary depending on the tyre format specified.

Further information on official fuel consumption figures, specific CO2 emission values and the electric power consumption of new passenger cars is included in the guideline "Guideline for fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and electric power consumption of new passenger cars", which can be obtained from all dealerships, from Deutsche Automobil Treuhand GmbH (DAT), Hellmuth-Hirth-Str. 1, 73760 Ostfildern-Scharnhausen and at http://www.dat.de.